The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased evaluations for his service-connected knee and back disorders due to the need for additional medical examinations.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations conducted in January 2016 were inadequate as they did not evaluate the functional effects of flare-ups, nor did they include joint testing for pain on both active and passive motion.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee chondromalacia, right knee patellofemoral syndrome with degenerative joint disease, compression fracture T-11 with osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19146463
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeal for higher ratings of his left and right knee conditions, and the Board has no jurisdiction to review these issues.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher initial rating for left knee limitation of extension and an increased rating for left knee chondromalacia.
- Dismissed
The proposed reductions of the veteran's right and left knee chondromalacia ratings were dismissed as there was no final rating action taken, and the disabilities remained rated at 40 percent during the applicable period.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for sleep disorder is dismissed, and the Veteran's claims for service connection for alcohol use disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, bilateral hearing loss, and lower back strain are denied. The Board granted a 70 percent rating for PTSD.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.